HARKNESS ANTOINETTES"Harkness Antoinnette monoplanes and biplanes of Curtiss and Walsh moored in the sand in this 1911 view looking
north across "North Coronado Island"(Historical Collection,
Title Insurance and Trust Company)
from Jackrabbits to Jets

HARKNESS ANTOINETTES

"When Curtiss began his occupation of North Island, the
only structures were the
farm house in which Mrs. DuPont was born and a large haybarn thought to be left over from the agricultural efforts
of Captain Bogart in the mid-19th century. The barn was used as the first hangar when Curtiss moved his airplanes
over. The Curtiss camp which grew around the old house and barn was primitive to put it kindly. There was a
frame and tar paper hanger about 30 feet square erected to house the three beauitiful Antoinettes owned by
Harry S. Harkness, New York sportsman, who joined Curtis temporarily in tenancy of the
island."

"The aeroplane has taken such a firm hold on the people of this country that many wealthy men and
women are going for the sport in earnest. Miss Elizabeth L. Todd has entered the lists as a competitor in several long-distance flights and
she has her mechanicians at work in her aerodrome at Hempstead Plains on three machines she designed. She has made several flights
and has learned to manipulate her planes and her engines in masterly style."
"Anthony C. Drexel, son of the millionaire banker, is another to take up the sport and he has made several successful trips aloft. He, too,
will join in some of the many races in the air in the near future."
In tracing various events of the aviators of the world in the past year or so it might well to begin with
Bleriot and his English Channel flight. This up to that time - July 25, 1909 - was by all odds the most
spectacular. This feat was duplicated by Jacques de Lesseps, a grandson of Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal. De Lesseps, however, came to grief and
several times he fell into the channel and but for the assistance of boatmen he would not be living today to boast of his performance."
and "Those who have signified their intention of entering the endurance flights are Captain Rolls and
Count Jacques de Lesseps. Both are now in Montreal, having crossed the ocean to compete in flights on this side of the Atlantic.
Hamilton, M. J. Seymour and Capt.Thomas S. Baldwin,Clifford B. Harmon,
Harry S. Harkness and Glenn Curtiss will also be among the flyers
at this meet."
Bob Davis

"New York, Sept. 15. - Harry S. Harkness, the aviator
of Cleveland, and member of a prominent family in that city, had a narrow
escape today when the monoplane in which he was flying at the aerodrome in
Garden City, L.I., dived suddenly to the ground from a height of 25 feet.
Harkness' machine was demolished but he fortunately escaped injury. This
was Harkness' first flight in America."

CHAPTER 4

HARRY HARKNESS FINANCES CHARLIE WALSH

The Charles Walsh family was at the Playa Del Rey Motordrome
Meet, 1910 and not coincidentally met a wealthy New York businessman/sportsman, Harry Harkness. Harkness had interests in
California, and had recently formed the Aero Club of San Diego and was sponsoring an aviation venture on the Spreckles North Island
flatlands along with Glenn Curtiss. He planned to build hangars and workshops to build
and repair aeroplanes and turn the unwanted island into a permanent airfield for all those interested in aviation. Harkness had already
purchased two Antoinette monoplanes and wanted a lightweight biplane to try out a new and unusual rotary engine. He had kept tabs
on Walsh's ability and offered him $5,000 to build the airplane.

On April 19, 1911, Walsh made two attempts to pass his flying tests for an aviator's license but failed.
The Macomber engine began to act up. An inspection revealed that it needed extensive work, Harkness was notified and underwrote
any overhaul charges that might incur. The engine was returned to the factory and Charlie began work on a second Silver Dart. This
machine would be for his own use. It had more than proven itself as a safe and sturdy flying machine. The old problem of a reliable
engine was again present. He didn't want a tempermental Macomber that needed constant attention and weekly overhaul. Friends urged
him to look into a new aeroplane engine being developed in San Francisco by a firm call Hall-Scott. Charlie did and the literature from
them was quite impressive. I promised an honest 40 hp with their 4 cylinder inline water-cooled Model A "aeronautical motor." Charlie
ordered the first production Hall-Scott engine and subsequently installed it in the second Silver Dart.
In the meantime the Macomber engine was returned and Walsh proceeded to make acceptance
flights before John Kiley, who represented the Harkness in Los Angeles. It was accepted and shipped to North Island in the latter part of
April 1911. For goodwill and publicity purposes, Harkness turned the plane over to Kiley, little more has been uncovered regarding this
plane except that Harkness seemed pleased with it and the Macomber engine. It was flown quite often from the San Diego Aero Club
Camp. In later 1912, the Walsh's were in New York and they visited the Mineola Flying Field on Long Island, Alice, always nosing
around, spotted a tent with a sign on it "No Trespassing." She couldn't resist peeking inside; her eyes bulged as she screamed for
Charlie to have a look. No mistake, it was the Harkness Silver Dart. They could not find out any more about it, however, and never heard
of it, or saw it again.

CHARLIE BECOMES SOLVENT

Harry Harkness paid in full for the Silver Dart and the Walsh's finally had adequate working funds.
Charlie repaid the $1,000 he had borrowed from his father, and sent a check in for the Hall-Scott engine. The second Silver Dart was
ready for flight and they still had a few hundred dollars in the bank. The only money in aviation during those days was in exhibition flying
and demonstrations of the airplane. Charlie was planning such a future when a representative fo the Pacific Aviation Company of
Portland, Oregon approached him to fly for them. They had exhibition dates lined up all over the West. Thousands of people would
come to see Walsh the Daring Birdman defy gravity. If he would sign the contract, he would be guaranteed a high percentage of all gate
receipts. They painted a pretty picture, too pretty, Charlie looked it over and signed. He was now a Professional Exhibition Aviator, the
star of the show. By May 1, 1911, he was launched on a new and even more exciting career. Charlie Walsh's days with the Manning
group, having his plane stolen and then becoming a member of the Curtiss Exhibition Team to form a two man stunt with Lincoln
Beachey will be presented next.

If you search for "Harry S. Harkness" +aviation using the Google search engine,
(9-19-10), you will find about 400 links. As your time and interest permits, you will find a wealth of information
on his life and career.

This page on The Journal of San Diego History website offers a beautiful picture of two of his
aeroplanes, along with three Curtiss biplanes on North Island in 1911. The caption includes the report:"On February 7, Harry Harkness made history by flying twenty-one miles to the Mexican
border."
On the same page you will find 37! other photographs, all of which were selected from the article,
The Only Safe and Sane Method...The Curtiss School of Aviation , which is found in The Journal of San Diego History, Winter 1979,
Volume 25, Number 1. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

I happened across your web site on Harry S Harkness when I tried looking
for information about a passage from a book I checked out of our local
library:

Jackrabbits to jets; the history of North Island, San Diego, California
by Elretta Sudsbury 1967

The passage states:

In 1911 a war message is delivered to Tijuana by millionaire aviator
Harry S Harkness, a captain in the US Aeronautical Reserve, from his
French Antoinette monoplane that took off from Curtiss' flying school on
North Island with orders to Lt George Ruhlen.

This passage is stated in a chapter describing the invasion of northern
Mexico as part of the Mexican Revolution started in 1910 when partisans
of the Partido Liberal Mexico (PLM), led by Ricardo Flores Magón,
captured Mexicali and went on to take over Tecate and Tijuana. The news
of the capture of Mexicali by Flores Magon excited California Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) radicals in Los Angeles, and Jack London, the
writer, circulated a manifesto proclaiming they were aligned with Flores
Magon. It happens that prior to the capture of Mexicali, Jose Aria Leyva
and Simon Berthold, directed by Flores Magon, stopped at the Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) headquarters in Holtville in the Imperial
Valley and received union worker support for their revolutionary intent
to control Mexicali. The people in the United States were hopeful that
all of Baja California could be severed from the Mexican government and
eventually become part of the US.

For me, the participation by millionaire aviator Harry S Harkness in this
revolution is a little surprising, for one generally would not expect a
millionaire to side with union workers beliefs.

When I read the passage about Harry S Harkness, I recognized the last
name to be that of the Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness that had been a
secret investor in Standard Oil, but Harry was not known to me. On a
prior occasion, I had explored the Harkness name on the Internet because
there is a street in the North Redondo Beach, CA, in the Villa tract near
where I live named after him (all the streets in this tract are named
after millionaires known to Henry Huntington, who was the original owner
and promoter of the tract).

I have learned that Harry S Harkness is the grandson of Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness, whose
son, Lamon V Harkness, was Harry's father. Apparently there was a lot of
wealth that lasted several generations.

Learning about Harry S Harkness from your
web site was a real delight.